Heading off to college isn’t an easy transition for freshmen. They’re not sure who they’ll be living with, what life will be like, how tough their classes may be, or what the best places to eat are.
These are all valid concerns — but what about handling a medical emergency?
In most cases, an urgent care center is not only a better option than the ER — it could save students hundreds of dollars.
College can present students of any age with physical and mental challenges they’re not prepared for. So a good game plan, one that is reassuring to parents especially, might be good to have.
Dr. Sunil Budhrani, M.D., is an ER doctor in the Washington, D.C., area, who has chaired and managed a number of emergency departments and urgent care centers around the country.
Budhrani offers the following smart, savvy advice for students as they head off to school this fall:
1.) Build a relationship with a physician.
A primary care physician (PCP) is a personal doctor who ultimately helps coordinate care. It might seem easier to go to the campus clinic or urgent care whenever you get sick, but a PCP will ensure you keep on top of preventive care and can help coordinate your care when needs arise. Making sure you have a PCP today can also help lower your overall health care costs in the long run. If you don’t have one, call your health plan — they can help you get one.
2.) Know your local urgent care centers and hours.
An injury at the gym or a cooking experiment gone wrong can leave anyone needing immediate medical care. Most people opt for the emergency room as their first line of defense, but as an ER doctor, said Dr. Budhrani, “I am here to dispel the long-standing rumor that this is a good idea. In most cases, an urgent care center is not only a better option — it could save you hundreds of dollars. Make sure to find your closest urgent care and learn its hours so you know where to go for immediate attention.”
3.) Take charge of your health with technology.
Today it feels like there is an app for everything. When it comes to managing your personal health, that can be a good thing — but it can also be a little confusing. With so many choices and ads, it’s important to know what to look for in a good health care app.
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First and foremost, make sure your app is helping to manage a health condition or providing health care guidance to you that it is evidence-based. This ensures that whoever created it did so with science in mind. A great way to check on a health app’s validity is to go online and do a bit of research. “Make sure whatever you use is the right fit for you and talk about it with your PCP at your next checkup,” said Dr. Budhrani. “He or she may even have some great recommendations for you.”
4.) Brush up on what’s covered in your health plan.
“If you’re on your parents’ health insurance, be sure to talk with them before you leave for college and find out what’s covered,” he advised. Many health insurance coverage plans changed with the Affordable Care Act, and “what you may think is covered isn’t anymore,” he said. By knowing the options before you need care, you can be better prepared to make the smart financial choice when you need it.
5.) Know your school’s medical requirements.
A large number of colleges require students to be up-to-date on a number of vaccines. Before heading off to college, talk with your PCP about your vaccination history and make sure you have all the shots you need before leaving.
A big one is the Meningitis B vaccine. The CDC is urging incoming freshmen to get the vaccine before they start class this fall.
“Meningitis B is a bacterial infection that can be very scary,” Melanie Fleck, outreach specialist with the University of Arizona Campus Health Services, told Tucson News Now in a recent report. “It can be very dangerous and it spreads quickly. It happens fast, so it’s an important vaccine to really prevent against something that could potentially be fatal for students.”
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Those living in dorms, residence halls, fraternities, and sororities are typically at a higher risk of contracting meningitis.
“It is rare, something like one in a million,” Cedarburg, Wisconsin, pediatrician Dan Hagerman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “But when they do get this, they get severely ill; 10 to 20 percent die and upwards of 20 percent have serious, long-term neurologic injury or limb loss. Most of us will never see it, but all it takes is one case.”
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The new vaccine is done in two doses and only protects against the B strain. It does not replace the other two-dose vaccine that college students should already have had at age 11 or 12 to protect against other strains of the virus.
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